Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

No. The key legal difference is as follows. The Oireachtas, in the Mental Health Act 2001, decided to protect people from being sued. In other words, the intention was to put a sort of protection around certain individuals in circumstances in which somebody was considering instituting proceedings against them. That is not what we are talking about in amendment No. 32 today. As the Minister has rightly said, we are talking about a procedure put into law or legislation. I suggest that it is quite an onerous requirement in respect of what has to be declared in order for a certification to occur. The kind of language that Deputy O'Donnell correctly quoted from the Mental Health Act 2001 protects people from being sued and, for example, states:

73.--(1) No civil proceedings shall be instituted in respect of an act purporting to have been done in pursuance of this Act save by leave of the High Court and such leave shall not be refused unless the High Court is satisfied:(a) that the proceedings are frivolous or vexatious, or
(b) that there are no reasonable grounds for contending that the person against whom the proceedings are brought acted in bad faith or without reasonable care.